trill: Meaning and Definition of

trill

Pronunciation: (tril), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to sing or play with a vibratory or quavering effect.
  2. to produce (a sound) with a trill.
  3. (of birds, insects, etc.) to sing or utter in a succession of rapidly alternating sounds.
—v.i.
  1. to resound vibrantly, or with a rapid succession of sounds, as the voice, song, or laughter.
  2. to utter or make a sound or succession of sounds resembling such singing, as a bird, frog, grasshopper, or person laughing.
  3. to execute a shake or trill with the voice or on a musical instrument.
  4. to execute a trill, esp. with the tongue, as while singing, talking, or whistling.
—n.
  1. the act or sound of trilling.
  2. a rapid alternation of two adjacent tones; a shake.
  3. a similar sound, or succession of sounds, uttered or made by a bird, an insect, a person laughing, etc.
    1. a sequence of repetitive, rapid, vibratory movements produced in any free articulator or membrane by a rush of air expelled from the lungs and often causing a corresponding sequence of contacts between the vibrating articulator and another organ or surface.
    2. a speech sound produced by such a trill.

trill

Pronunciation: (tril), [key]
— v.i. Archaic,
  1. to flow in a thin stream; trickle.
—v.t.
  1. to cause to flow in a thin stream.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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